New Mexico Early Childhood Workforce Development Organizations
The New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department provides FREE professional development opportunities to early care providers across the state. These opportunities are offered in collaboration with several different agencies, including those listed below. Please click on the links below to access each agency’s website and for more information about the services they provide.
UNM Early Childhood Services Center
About: UNM Early Childhood Services Center (ECSC) offers a range of learning opportunities designed to meet the FOCUS: Essential Elements of Quality and the NM PreK Program Standards professional development requirements for community based programs. In addition, UNM ECSC offers training that focuses on topics including infant and toddler development, social emotional development, safety and classroom management, authentic observation, and curriculum planning. Training events can be accessed online, in hybrid format, and when applicable, face to face. Sessions are offered in both English and Spanish.
Audience: All early childhood sectors: early learning programs, home care providers, NM PreK, home visiting, early intervention, Early Head Start, Head Start, and other interested community members.
Websites: www.newmexicokids.org or www.nmels.org
UNM Center for Development and Disability
About: The University of New Mexico Health Sciences, Center for Development and Disability, Early Childhood Learning Network (ECLN) provides a range of professional development opportunities to ensure that infants, toddlers and their families receive high quality services from qualified and well-supported personnel. This includes interdisciplinary training, consultation, technical assistance and resource development; dissemination of accessible information; commitment to parallel process; building on strengths; bridging early childhood sectors and strategic and systematic thinking that leads to action. A culturally competent, relationship-based, and reflective approach guides all efforts. Services include customized professional development activities designed to meet the unique needs of providers and to reflect the evidence-based practices in the fields of early intervention and home visiting.
Audience: Family Infant Toddler Program (FIT) early intervention community-based providers and home visiting programs sponsored by the Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD). On-line courses are available for all early childhood sectors.
Websites: cdd.unm.edu
UNM Family Development Program
About: The Family Development Program (FDP) offers training to strengthen family engagement, family leadership, early childhood collaboration, early childhood leadership development, community coalition-building, social-emotional development, and play-based learning. FDP’s statewide professional development approach to facilitated learning engages all participants through dialogue, reflection, mindfulness, and culturally responsive practice. Interactive sessions explore how FDP’s Early Childhood Collaborative Leadership Tool Kit, FDP’s Wemagination Resource Center’s Learning Through Play philosophy, along with Mind in the Making resources can be integrated in support of New Mexico goals for high quality early learning. Sessions are offered in both English and in Spanish.
Audience: All early childhood sectors: home visiting, early intervention, Early Head Start, Head Start, early learning programs, home care providers, NM PreK, families, health councils, and other interested community members.
Websites: fdp.unm.edu or we.unm.edu
Central Region Educational Cooperative
About: The Central Region Educational Cooperative (REC5) is funded by the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) to provide professional learning opportunities to early childhood administrators and educators in public school settings. Professional learning offered supports requirements within the FOCUS: Essential Elements of Quality for All Public School Preschool Programs; the PED’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) for preschool programs.
Audience: Preschool administrators and educators in NM PreK, Special Education 619, and Title I funded programs.
Websites: www.crecnm.org
Early Childhood Mentor Network
About: Early Childhood Mentor Network (ECMN) is a professional network of early childhood education teachers interested in mentoring the next generation of teachers. We provide opportunities to engage in reflective practice and professional development with colleagues in the field of early childhood, as well as high-quality learning experiences for students on the path to be educators. We also strive to encourage teacher and director leadership in New Mexico, and create relationships between early childhood higher education and early childhood teachers in the field.
Audience: Experienced early childhood teachers interested in mentoring and joining a professional teacher’s network in New Mexico.
Websites: www.cnm.edu